CLEOBURY Mortimer and the Severn Valley Railway are among attractions featured in a new book which takes a look at the glories of Shropshire.

The lavishly illustrated 80-page publication is the work of regional journalist Shirley Tart and Worcestershire photographer Bill Meadows.

It offers a whistlestop tour to the county immortalised by PG Wodehouse which still contains spectacular unspoilt countryside, together with ancient market towns, villages and historic buildings.

Shropshire, a Portrait in Colour, pays due homage to Cleobury, home of 14th century poet William Langland.

It notes the town's "delightful" Georgian terraces, tree-lined walkways and buildings that include a manor house from 1700, St Mary's Church, of the twisted spire, Norman tower and the Old Lion pub.

It also highlights the town's vanguard role in the Industrial Revolution which saw a charcoal furnace built in Cleobury in the 16th century to smelt iron ore, well before the technological revolution got under way elsewhere in the county.

The reader learns too the origin of the town's name - from "clee" and "cleo", probably old names for hill - and the site of a former 12th century castle, now occupied by Lacon Childe School, which was built by Ralph de Mortimer.

Moving forward in time, the reader stops off at the 16-mile Kidderminster to Bridgnorth Severn Valley Railway which the author describes as, "high on the visitor list of what to do in Shropshire".

She adds: "For all generations, this gentle drift into the past on a journey which mostly follows the course of the River Severn is a delight.

"As the network of rural roads and lanes falls away, there are some fabulous views only ever seen from the railway.

"The sort of train travel which old people remember with nostalgia and young people will never know."

The book, published by Countryside Books, is available from local bookstores, priced £11.95